has anyone ever

started ornamental grasses from seeds? i saw a few in a catalogue and would like to try it. i've seen them in my local nurseries but most of them are the samre color etc. the ones in the books are different colors. i'm in upstate new york and just asking if its difficult to do this. i've started veggies from seeds but never tried flowers. thanks.

I'm sure hoping it's doable since I got several different seed-types to try. I'd be happy to share some with you! A friend of mine lives in Ancram and he's grown some beauties! He has a dozen differents types of feather grass, fountain, grass, festuca etc. His are tall and nighty, but he's been growing them for quite a few years. I have no idea how long it will take to get a decent amount from seed. I bought a couple of plugs of Blue Festuca from Dutch Gardens a few years ago and they've virtually done nothing.

LMK if you'd like me to toss afew seeds in the mail for you to get started! Since they take a while to grow, I'm starting them NOW!

Many of the ornamental grasses can be grown form seed but some of the hybrids are not going to be availiable as seed for a long time. For those, you would do better to buy a plug or pot grown from a cutting. I remember when the Hybrid New Guinea Impatiens came out and we all had to wait several years until seeds were stable enough to come true. Even then some of my favorite leaf colors didn't make the grade and disappeared from cultivation. Two years ago a fantastic deep purple grass came on the market and for some reason here there were too many of them. At the end of the season many gardeners bought lots of them at $1 a pot to try to get them to survive the winter but I don't think anyone succeeded. The next year only a few showed up in the stores so there were no bargains. In this area they were sold as annuals. Check the propagation databases to see if they are listed as seed grown. Jessamine

jessamine - thanks for your advice. now that i re examine the johnnys seeds catalogue i see that all the ornamental grasses are annual. thought i could plant them and forget them. oh well. thanks again.

Herbie, there are certainly some perennial ornamentals that can be grown from seed, especially warmer than zone 5 or more hardy ones that can replace them in colder regions. For example, Pampas grass is too tender but Ravenna Grass can replace it. Many don't know the difference. Last year I saw some interesting seed at Menards but didn't have time to try it. There are some great looking grasses from europe. I saw them being used on the campus at the U of Minnesota. Why don't you check out some of the seed and plant exchanges? Jessamine

jessamine - thanks and will look into it. frank